FALL 2012 RPA CONFERENCE

Welcome!

Welcome to the website for the Radical Philosophy Association's Fall 2012 Conference. To the left, you will find all of the information you need to know for the conference (registration, hotels, directions, etc). See below for more information on the conference theme.

10th Biennial Conference: "What is Radical Philosophy Today?"

The adjective “radical” is used in many different ways politically and philosophically. It is especially important to explore some of these various meanings as the Radical Philosophy Association looks back on thirty years of intellectual and political activism and advocacy on behalf of justice and liberation and forward to the future through and beyond our current crises.

It seems to many that the world faces several deep problems. How does specifically “radical” philosophy help us to understand and address them? For example, capitalism demands and enforces increasing gaps between the wealthy and the middle class and the poor worldwide. Oppressive systems of class, race, gender, heteronormativity, and able­bodiedness continue to function, defining people and their lives in harmful and de­humanizing ways. Violence continues to deform people’s lives and possibilities by permeating our everyday experience and invading our consciousness, making us both less aware of it and thus more accepting of it.

For these reasons and many more, we invite submissions that answer (or raise) questions about the nature of radical philosophy and its roles in understanding and responding to current crises. [SUBMISSIONS CLOSED MARCH 15, 2012]

What is radical theory? How can radical theory be made more effective in responding to crises? What philosophies/ philosophers are radical?

What is radical practice? What does one have to do/be to be radical? Is being radical important? Do some forms of radical practice need to be criticized? What is radical identity? How does one think radically about identities of race, gender, nationality, citizenship, able­ bodiedness, sexuality, etc.? What constitutes a radical identity? How do individuals in groups historically labeled or excluded by race, gender, nationality, etc., redefine, refute, or revolt against the western histories of those categories?

What radical responses are needed to address the crises in economics worldwide? What place does class (and class analysis) have in discussions of radical ideas, radical politics, or radical critiques of the political economy? How does one radically rethink the concept of class in light of current crises? How does one think radically about democracy or statehood/nationhood? What is radical political engagement? What does radical philosophy have to say about current protest movements in the US and worldwide?

What is radical art, radical expression, a radical style? How can such aesthetic categories and concerns contribute to changing/transforming the world? What is radical pedagogy? How can teachers help to radically change the world in positive ways?